Feds: Man dealt pot to kids from home near Ballard High

Updated 10:58 am, Monday, September 16, 2013

A 51-year-old Ballard resident is facing federal drug charges following allegations that he dealt pot to high school and middle school students.

Federal prosecutors contend Alejandro Antonio Castillo was caught selling marijuana as part of a sting operation launched following reports that he was dealing to children. Marijuana possession and sales remain illegal under federal law.

Agents began investigating Castillo earlier this year after a middle school parent reported students were purchasing marijuana from his home, a block north of Ballard High School.

In March, a parent of a Whitman Middle School student told a security officer at the Crown Hill school his or her child came home “extremely high” the previous night after a visit to Castillo’s home.

According to charging papers, another parent had taken the child and two others to Castillo’s home, located a block north of Ballard High School in the 6700 block of 15th Avenue Northwest, to buy marijuana. The three children apparently got stoned on that pot later in the day.

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Prosecutors contend Seattle Police Department detectives saw teens from Whitman Middle School and Ballard High School enter Castillo's home, be there for a few minutes and leave. Officers claim to have seen several teens leave holding plastic bags of what appeared to be marijuana.

According to court papers, officers posing as teen girls bought marijuana from a young woman and teenage boy at the home during the undercover operation. Castillo is alleged to have personally sold pot to two undercover detectives posing as teens.

On one April day, detectives saw 18 teens approach the house in three hours, a U.S. Attorney’s Office spokeswoman said in a statement. Most of the teens appeared to come directly from Ballard High School.

Seattle police searched the home on April 23 and seized approximately 2 ½ pounds of marijuana, as well as four shotguns, one rifle, six pistols and $4,755.

According to charging papers, Castillo has a valid concealed weapons permit. He told police he collects guns and bought his weapons at gun shows. According to police, the home had previously been targeted in a home-invasion robbery, which saw a shotgun fired into the home. Castillo returned fire, but no one was hit.

Arrested following the search at his home, Castillo is alleged to have admitted to selling marijuana to children for more than a year. Castillo told detectives he refused to sell to preteens, a Seattle police officer assigned to a Drug Enforcement Administration task force said in court papers.

“Sometimes younger children would come and Castillo stated he would ask how old they were,” the task force officer told the court. “If they were too young, he would tell them, ‘You’re too young. Come back next year.’”

Castillo added that he would sometimes sell to younger children if they said the marijuana was for their parents, the officer continued.

According to charging papers, Castillo defended his sales by claiming 13-year-olds were old enough to smoke pot. Police contend Castillo admitted to selling about 1 ½ pounds of marijuana a month.

According to a statement released Monday by the U.S. Attorney's Office, federal authorities acted because changes in state law following the passage of a marijuana legalization initiative would have complicated a state prosecution. King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said lawmakers in Olympia have since closed the loophole at issue.

"There was a gap in the law from the time I-502 passed until the legislature fixed the legal definition of marijuana that would have made the case extremely problematic for state prosecutors," Satterberg said in a statement. "We appreciate federal prosecutors stepping in to handle this serious case of dealing marijuana to minors."

In a statement, U.S. Attorney for Western Washington Jenny Durkan asserted the prosecution is in line with a Justice Department strategy to target dealers providing marijuana to children.

“The sale of marijuana to these teenagers not only impacts their ability to learn, it disrupts the educational experience for other students,” Durkan said. “This conduct is the reason we have stronger penalties for those who distribute drugs within 1,000 feet of schools, parks and other places where children congregate.”

Castillo is expected to appear in U.S. District Court later Monday. He has been charged with three counts of marijuana distribution, and one count of marijuana possession with intent to distribute.